Story highlights

Mosul, Iraq (CNN)As Iraqi troops waged fierce battles Friday with ISIS militants in Mosul's eastern neighborhoods, the United Nations warned it believes the terror group is seizing boys as young as 9 to fight on its behalf.

It has received reports ISIS has been instructing residents of Hammam al-Alil, about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south of Mosul, to hand over boys 9 and older since October 17, Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency, said at press briefing in Geneva, Switzerland.

She said the boys were apparently being conscripted to fight on behalf of the terror group as it battles to hold on to its Iraqi stronghold in the face of a massive assault by Iraqi-led coalition forces.

Shamdasani said the United Nations continued to receive reports of mass killings by ISIS, including 50 of its own militants Monday at Mosul's Ghazlani military base for alleged desertion.

Iraqi troops are engaged in furious battles with militants to liberate the easternmost neighborhoods of Mosul after they breached the city limits for the first time in two years.

Read More

These forces have started storming the neighborhoods of al-Karama, al-Zahra, al-Qudes and al-Tahrir, Maj. Gen. Maan al-Saadi, commander of Iraqi counterterrorism special forces, told CNN on Friday.

Government troops struck ISIS positions early Friday, sending the militant group's ambulances rushing to the scene to extricate the wounded and dead.

A CNN team on the outskirts of Mosul heard loud clashes, bombing from air support and artillery fire. It also witnessed Iraqi Humvees racing toward neighborhoods in eastern Mosul.

Military radio chatter suggested that rooftop snipers, along with militants firing from civilian areas, were complicating the fight.

The Iraqi army has reported progress on the northern front, with the capture of areas near Tal Kayf.

However, Iraqi counterterror troops got an early taste of how dogged -- and bloody -- ISIS' defense of the city will be after encountering what one soldier described as "crazy resistance."

Three of the unit's soldiers were killed and seven wounded inside the neighborhood of Kirkokli.

The unit was met by two suicide vehicle bombs, and ISIS fighters emerged at close quarters with heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The unit lost two Humvees, with damage to three others.

Civilians continue to leave neighborhoods on the outskirts of Mosul despite efforts by Iraqi authorities to keep them in their homes. Many said it had become impossible to stay because there was no water or food.

Officials have warned that entering the city would likely trigger the fiercest fighting yet and that the battle is expected to be fought street to street, or even house to house.

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi Shiite paramilitary fighters ride in a vehicle through a desert area near the village of Al-Boutha al-Sharqiyah, west of Mosul, on Friday, December 2. An offensive began in October to reclaim Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and the last major stronghold for ISIS in the country.

Hide Caption

1 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Internally displaced Iraqis who fled the fighting in Mosul watch as a civilian drone films them at the al-Khazir camp on December 1.

Hide Caption

2 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An Iraqi soldier searches a home for Islamic State militants after Iraqi forces retook the village of Al-Qasr, near Mosul, on November 30.

Hide Caption

3 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi soldiers transport a comrade who was injured during a battle with ISIS fighters on the front line near the village of Haj Ali on November 29.

Hide Caption

4 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A man mourns during the funeral on November 27 of four Iraqi paramilitary fighters who were killed in battles with ISIS in the town of Tal Afar.

Hide Caption

5 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Displaced civilians return to the village of Tall Abtah on November 25, after Iraqi forces retook the village from ISIS.

Hide Caption

6 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Mosul residents are seen through the windshield of an armored truck as they flee the city, while Iraqi special forces battle ISIS fighters in the northeastern district of the city on November 24.

Hide Caption

7 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi civilians sit on the ground in Mosul on November 24. An Iraqi officer addressed the group, demanding to know the whereabouts of alleged ISIS militants who opened fire on troops a few days earlier.

Hide Caption

8 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi soldiers take a selfie on a Mosul street after retaking the area from ISIS on Tuesday, November 22. Iraq is leading a coalition that also includes American and Kurdish troops.

Hide Caption

9 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A member of the Babylon Brigades, an Iraqi Christian militia, stands guard at a monastery in the town of Khidr Ilyas, southeast of Mosul, on November 22.

Hide Caption

10 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An Iraqi girl waits with her parents to buy food behind the fence of the Khazir refugee camp on Monday, November 21.

Hide Caption

11 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Sheep, blackened by smoke from burning oil wells, graze in Qayyara, Iraq, on Sunday, November 20.

Hide Caption

12 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Workers assemble a water pipe in Qayyara to help put out an oil well fire that was started by retreating ISIS militants.

Hide Caption

13 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An Iraqi woman holds her child after crossing the Tigris River on Saturday, November 19.

Hide Caption

14 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An Iraqi soldier treats a civilian injured by a mortar shell at a field hospital in Mosul on November 19.

Hide Caption

15 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An Iraqi soldier jumps onto a Humvee escorting an Abrams tank in Mosul on November 18.

Hide Caption

16 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Ripped trousers lie at the site of a suspected mass grave near Tall Adh-Dhahab, a village south of Mosul, on November 18.

Hide Caption

17 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

People flee the fighting in the Mosul area on Tuesday, November 15.

Hide Caption

18 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An injured baby receives treatment at a field hospital in Mosul on November 15.

Hide Caption

19 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Civilians fleeing the war zone wait for their documents to be reviewed at a checkpoint near Bartella on Monday, November 14.

Hide Caption

20 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A woman cries Sunday, November 13, after seeing the St. Addai church that was damaged by ISIS fighters during their occupation of the Keramlis village.

Hide Caption

21 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An Iraqi special forces soldier prays next to a Humvee before troops pushed toward Mosul's Karkukli neighborhood on November 13.

Hide Caption

22 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A man stands guard in the al-Shallalat district as the military operation continued on November 13.

Hide Caption

23 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A young shepherd watches over his flock of sheep near the town of Qayyara on November 12. The sheep were blackened by smoke after oil wells were set ablaze by ISIS militants.

Hide Caption

24 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter holds part of a defused bomb planted by ISIS militants in Bashiqa, Iraq, on Friday, November 11.

Hide Caption

25 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A member of Iraq's special forces guards two suspected ISIS fighters found hiding in a house in Mosul on November 11.

Hide Caption

26 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi boys who were displaced by fighting in Mosul carry food supplies at a camp in Hassan Sham, Iraq, on Thursday, November 10.

Hide Caption

27 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An Iraqi woman displaced by war holds her cat near a checkpoint in the Iraqi village of Shaqouli, east of Mosul, on November 10.

Hide Caption

28 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A fighter from a local tribe poses for a portrait in Qayyara, south of Mosul, on November 10.

Hide Caption

29 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi troops watch a broadcast of Donald Trump's acceptance speech in a house in Arbid, on the outskirts of Mosul, on Wednesday, November 9. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated Trump on his win and said he hoped for continued support in the war on ISIS.

Hide Caption

30 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

US Marines install equipment at a coalition base in Qayyara on November 9.

Hide Caption

31 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Smoke rises from Bashiqa after a coalition airstrike targeted ISIS positions on Tuesday, November 8.

Hide Caption

32 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter races to take a position on a street in Bashiqa as coalition forces battled to reclaim the town from ISIS control on November 8.

Hide Caption

33 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An Iraqi forces member investigates a mass grave that was discovered after coalition forces recaptured the area of Hamam al-Alil on Monday, November 7.

Hide Caption

34 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Smoke rises from ISIS positions after an attack by Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Bashiqa on November 7.

Hide Caption

35 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi children witness a man being interrogated by a member of the Iraqi army at a base next to the Al-Intissar neighborhood of Mosul on November 7.

Hide Caption

36 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A civilian man who fled the fighting trims his beard after reaching an Iraqi army position in Mosul on November 7.

Hide Caption

37 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Children play in debris created by an airstrike in Qayyara on Sunday, November 6.

Hide Caption

38 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Female members of the Freedom Party of Kurdistan sing as they hold a position near Bashiqa on November 6.

Hide Caption

39 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A sniper takes aim at ISIS positions as Iraqi forces advance toward the Hammam al-Alil area south of Mosul on November 6.

Hide Caption

40 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A baby is passed through a fence back to his mother at a refugee camp in the Khazir region on Saturday, November 5.

Hide Caption

41 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

People line up to receive food at a refugee camp in the Khazir region on November 5. Thousands are taking refuge in camps set up for internally displaced people.

Hide Caption

42 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi soldiers pass near a bridge destroyed in an airstrike in Qayyara on November 5.

Hide Caption

43 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi special forces advance on the outskirts of Mosul as an airstrike targets ISIS positions on Friday, November 4.

Hide Caption

44 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi soldiers patrol an alley on the outskirts of Mosul on November 4.

Hide Caption

45 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Rockets are fired from the Qayyara military base on November 4.

Hide Caption

46 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A suspected member of ISIS is detained at a checkpoint near Bartella, Iraq, on November 4.

Hide Caption

47 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A convoy of trucks carries displaced people away from Mosul on November 4. Iraqi forces have freed dozens of villages in their advance on Mosul, yet more than 1 million civilians are still trapped in the ISIS-held city.

Hide Caption

48 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi families flee the fighting on November 4 near the village of Gogjali.

Hide Caption

49 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A girl pauses in the doorway of a tent in the Khazir camp on November 4.

Hide Caption

50 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi families pack into a truck to be moved to camps on Thursday, November 3.

Hide Caption

51 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A member of Iraq's special forces uses a helmet as a decoy while a sniper takes aim at ISIS positions in Gogjali on November 3.

Hide Caption

52 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A child peers through a car window in the village of Bazwaya on November 3.

Hide Caption

53 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Children play near a burning oil field in Qayyara on November 3.

Hide Caption

54 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A woman waves to Iraqi soldiers patrolling Gogjali on Wednesday, November 2.

Hide Caption

55 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

The graves of eight family members are seen in Faziliya, north of Mosul, on Tuesday, November 1. The family was killed in late October when their home was hit in an airstrike.

Hide Caption

56 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An Iraqi special forces soldier searches for the location of an ISIS sniper in Gogjali on November 1.

Hide Caption

57 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A man fleeing the village of Bazwaya carries a white flag as he arrives at a checkpoint on November 1.

Hide Caption

58 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An Iraqi soldier guards the Bartella front on November 1.

Hide Caption

59 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi forces fire artillery at ISIS targets on the Bartella front on November 1.

Hide Caption

60 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi forces run for cover after a mortar shell struck near the village of Bazwaya on Monday, October 31.

Hide Caption

61 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An Iraqi soldier receives treatment after being injured during clashes with ISIS fighters near Bazwaya on October 31.

Hide Caption

62 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi soldiers carry an injured comrade near Bazwaya on October 31.

Hide Caption

63 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An Iraqi soldier navigates through a shattered windshield as coalition forces advance on Bazwaya on October 31.

Hide Caption

64 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Archbishop Yohanna Petros Mouche, center, performs Mass in the liberated town of Qaraqosh on Sunday, October 30.

Hide Caption

65 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Children play in a camp for internally displaced people near Kirkuk, Iraq, on October 30. More than 600 families from Tel Afar, a town west of Mosul, have been living in the camp since ISIS took control of the area in 2014.

Hide Caption

66 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Shiite fighters launch missiles against ISIS in the village of Salmani, south of Mosul, on October 30.

Hide Caption

67 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Shiite fighters advance toward Salmani on October 30.

Hide Caption

68 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Displaced families are seen on the road near Qayyara on Saturday, October 29.

Hide Caption

69 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

U.S. military personnel take cover in a bunker after a mortar alarm was sounded at a coalition air base in Qayyara on Friday, October 28.

Hide Caption

70 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An Iraqi forces member stands on top a military vehicle near the village of Sin al-Dhuban, south of Mosul, on Thursday, October 27.

Hide Caption

71 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi forces advance toward Sin al-Dhuban on October 27.

Hide Caption

72 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Women and children grieve over the grave of a family member at a Qayyara cemetery damaged by ISIS on October 27.

Hide Caption

73 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqis who fled Mosul reunite with relatives at a refugee camp in the Khazir area on Wednesday, October 26.

Hide Caption

74 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A family walks near billowing smoke from burning oil wells and sulfur fires that were set by ISIS fighters on October 26.

Hide Caption

75 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An Iraqi federal police vehicle clears a checkpoint in Qayyara on October 26.

Hide Caption

76 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Residents of Qayyara wait for distribution of food and water rations on October 26. Local water sources have been contaminated by the burning oil and sulfur.

Hide Caption

77 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A woman wears a mask to alleviate her difficulty breathing due to the contaminated air in Qayyara on October 26.

Hide Caption

78 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi forces patrol the Kirkuk area for members of ISIS on October 25. The terror group has launched surprise attacks in other parts of Iraq, including Kirkuk, to distract coalition forces from the Mosul campaign and to tie up their resources elsewhere.

Families displaced by the Mosul operation wait for food near Qayyara on October 24.

Hide Caption

82 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Displaced families gather near Qayyara on October 24.

Hide Caption

83 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Kurdish Peshmerga forces take positions as they start to move toward the Imam Reza and Tizxirab villages of the Bashiqa district on Sunday, October 23.

Hide Caption

84 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi forces distribute fruit to children in the village of al-Khuwayn, south of Mosul, after recapturing it from ISIS on October 23.

Hide Caption

85 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Spent bullet cartridges litter the street around the Jihad Hotel on October 22, where ISIS militants battled Iraqi security forces in Kirkuk the previous day.

Hide Caption

86 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Kurdish security forces detain a suspected member of ISIS in the eastern suburbs of Kirkuk on Saturday, October 22.

Hide Caption

87 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An Iraqi forces member helps a man push a car as they arrive at a refugee camp in Qayyara on October 22.

Hide Caption

88 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi special forces hold a cross found in the Christian town of Bartella on October 22. Iraqi forces recaptured Bartella but still faced some resistance in the area.

Hide Caption

89 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

An Iraqi boy who lost an eye in fighting between government forces and ISIS poses for a photograph in the Debaga refugee camp on October 22.

Hide Caption

90 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Gen. Abdel Ghani al-Asadi, who leads Iraq's counterterrorism forces, sits in Bartella on Friday, October 21 after the town was reclaimed.

Hide Caption

91 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Peshmerga fighters look over a village during an assault near Bashiqa on October 20.

Hide Caption

92 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A coalition fighter covers his ears before another fires artillery on ISIS positions in Nawaran on October 20.

Hide Caption

93 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A Peshmerga fighter takes aim near Naveran on October 20.

Hide Caption

94 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi soldiers travel along a road near Qayyara as clouds of black smoke rise in the sky on Wednesday, October 19.

Hide Caption

95 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi forces fire a howitzer toward the village of Tall al-Tibah on October 19.

Hide Caption

96 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi soldiers raise their weapons in celebration on the outskirts of Qayyara on October 19.

Hide Caption

97 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi soldiers look on as smoke rises from the Qayyara area.

Hide Caption

98 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A street is covered with smoke from the Qayyara fire.

Hide Caption

99 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi forces head toward the front lines near Qayyara on Tuesday, October 18.

Hide Caption

100 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Iraqi forces in Bajwaniyah on October 18.

Hide Caption

101 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Smoke rises from an ISIS position after a coalition airstrike in Mosul on October 18.

Hide Caption

102 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Civilians herd sheep from a village near Mosul on October 18. The smoke came from oil wells ISIS set on fire to limit the visibility of coalition pilots.

Hide Caption

103 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Kurdish Peshmerga forces are on the front line in Nineveh, Iraq, on October 18.

Hide Caption

104 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A Peshmerga fighter peers up from an underground tunnel in the liberated town of Badana on October 18. ISIS fighters have built tunnels below residential streets to escape from airstrikes.

Hide Caption

105 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Armored vehicles driven by Peshmerga forces move along the Hazir front on October 18.

Hide Caption

106 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Kurdish security forces take up a position near ISIS-controlled villages on Monday, October 17.

Hide Caption

107 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Peshmerga forces attack ISIS militants with howitzers from Zardak mountain on October 17.

Hide Caption

108 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Smoke rises from a suicide car bomb attack carried out by ISIS in the village of Bedene on October 17.

Hide Caption

109 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A Kurdish Peshmerga convoy drives towards the Khazer front line, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) east of Mosul on October 17.

Hide Caption

110 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Members of the Iraqi coalition gather around a fire at Zardak mountain ahead of the offensive.

Hide Caption

111 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

Peshmerga forces deploy in the dark near the village of Wardak early on October 17.

Hide Caption

112 of 113

Photos:Mosul operation: Iraqi-led forces push into key city

A Sunni Iraqi police officer prays at the Qayyara airbase on October 16.

Hide Caption

113 of 113

More human shields?

One challenge the liberators are facing is differentiating ISIS fighters from civilians. The terror group is reported to have brought tens of thousands of civilians -- mostly women and children -- into the city to be used as human shields, a tactic to ward off airstrikes and ground assaults.

On Thursday night, ISIS militants ordered civilians to leave the town of Hammam al-Alil and head north into Mosul. The order via the loudspeakers of mosques came after the Iraqi military announced its troops had reached hills overlooking the town.

'New life breathed into us'

As forces broke through Mosul's border, the Iraqi army opened up a safe route for civilians to evacuate from the front line in al Intisar, Brig. Gen. Tahsin Ibrahim, an Iraqi Ministry of Defense spokesman, told CNN.

A CNN team on the ground saw hundreds fleeing on foot from the direction of Mosul and the village of Gogjali on the outskirts, risking ISIS' booby traps and gunfire. Many waved white flags to show they were civilians.

They gathered on the side of a road where the Iraqi military sent trucks and buses to pick them up and take them to a camp in the town of Khazir. The men were packed on the back of utility trucks, while buses carried women and children.